New wave of thin notebooks coming

The next wave of ultralight notebooks is here as PC makers discover more ways to add features while keeping the weight down.

5 February 20034:05 am AEDT

The next wave of ultralight notebook computers is being readied for
market, as companies such as Compaq, Gateway, and Micron target a growing market segment
currently dominated by IBM.

Overall, industry analysts say the demand for ultraportable
computers--slimmer and lighter than full-fledged notebooks--has been
growing, as PC vendors discover ways to add more features, such
as CD-ROM
drives, while keeping overall weight down.

But experts warn that you can be too thin or too light. While thin notebooks such as IBM's ThinkPad 600 have sold well, ultrathin notebooks that weigh under 3 pounds have not sold as well in the U.S. The small keyboard is too big a trade-off for many consumers.

IBM's ThinkPad
4.1-pound 560 defined the ultraportable category with its slim 1.2-inch
thick profile and large (at that time) 12.1-inch display. The 560 remains
the sector's leader, but has been eclipsed in some respects by the ThinkPad
600--and notebooks to appear soon from others such as Compaq--which offer a
CD-ROM and a larger display in a package that weighs about 5.5 pounds.

The "pure" ultraportable market--meaning products like the ThinkPad 560--will probably never amount to more than 10 percent of mobile market, estimates
Mike McGuire, mobile technology analyst at Dataquest. Meanwhile, products in the
5 to 6 pound range will eventually become the mainstream of the
notebook market, he says.

IBM's Leo Suarez, director of product marketing, claims that results from
Audits & Surveys Worldwide show it was
the largest notebook vendor in the second quarter based in part on sales of
the ThinkPad 600. Other vendors are apparently eyeing IBM's success with
ultraportables and are getting ready to jump into this market segment.

"The ultraportable computer market will get a kick later this year. Some
manufacturers will likely be able to include some form of removable media
such as a CD-ROM in systems weighing less than five pounds," predicted
David Thor, mobile computing analyst with Sherwood Research.

Gateway and Compaq are among the vendors readying full-featured
ultraportable systems for release early this fall. Compaq is working on an
Armada with a 300-MHz Pentium II, a bay for a CD-ROM or floppy disk drive,
and 12.1-inch or optional 13.3-inch display in a package that weighs around
five pounds, according to industry sources. The system is expected to be
released in early September.

Compaq did not return phone calls by press time.

Meanwhile, Gateway is busy at work on its own ultraportable for release
this fall that should sport a Pentium II processor and weigh around 4.5
pounds, according to industry sources. Gateway officials declined to
comment on specific product plans, but did note that the ultraportable
segment is "interesting" and that the company is "looking for directions as
to what to do."

John Costello, senior product marketing manager for Gateway, said the market for
ultraportables is maturing because many buyers are already on their second
or third notebook. "A growing percentage of the market knows what kind of
features they are willing to sacrifice" with an ultraportable, Costello
thinks.

Toshiba Portege 7000CT

While full-featured ultraportables like the ThinkPad 600 will see the
largest sales growth, that's not stopping companies from coming out with a
variety of interpretations of the "extreme" ultraportable.

Micron is readying a mini-notebook with a 266-MHz Pentium MMX processor and
a 10.4-inch active matrix display in a package weighing under three pounds
and measuring just over one inch thick, according to Shane Thomas, vice
president of portables for the company.

Thomas said the price of the notebook is expected to be under $1500 for a
system with 32MB of memory and a 4GB hard disk drive when it is introduced
sometime in the fourth quarter of 1998.

Micron's notebook, which is similar in size to the recently
introduced Sony Vaio 505GX, represents the extreme example of an
ultraportable computer. The reduced-size keyboard and lack of on-board
CD-ROM or floppy disk drive that characterize these systems limits their
appeal.

Other recent entrants in the
extreme ultraportable category include Toshiba's Portege 7000CT. The new
Portege is a one-inch thick, 4-pound notebook that features a 12.1-inch
active-matrix display and full-size keyboard, but can still be considered a
member of the extreme ultraportable class product because of its lack of a
built-in floppy drive or CD-ROM drive.

"What's going on is that people are driving for the lightest, thinnest
device that they can carry around that has adequate functionality. It's the
tradeoff between functionality and weight and usability that is the battle"
in designing these systems, said Gerry Purdy, president of Mobile Insights.